1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to an electric current sensor and, more particularly, to a compensated transient response electric current sensor that utilizes a Hall effect generator positioned in a gap of a toroid to produce an output that is proportional to the current being sensed.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many types of electrical current sensing sensors are known and are in wide use today throughout the electronics industry. Many of these sensors include a Hall effect generator that senses the magnetic field associated with an electrical current and, in turn, produces a Hall effect output voltage that is proportional to the magnetic field. However, many applications involve the measurement of an alternating or transient current. In these applications, errors in the Hall effect voltage will occur due to the changing magnetic field associated with the time varying current.
More particularly, the Hall effect output voltage is the voltage produced across opposite edges of an electrical current-carrying conductor when placed in a magnetic field. The basis of this effect, which depends upon the deflection of charged particle moving in a magnetic field, is the Loreritz force. This force is in a direction mutually perpendicular to the path of the particle movement and the magnetic field direction. As a result, an output voltage occurs across the conductor. This output voltage has a magnitude that depends upon the magnetic field present, the Hall coefficient and the excitation current in the conductor. When the excitation current is held constant, the output voltage is proportional to the magnetic field produced by the current being sensed or measured.
Hall effect generators generally comprise a layer of homogeneous semiconductor material, known as the Hall plate, constructed upon a dielectric substrate. The excitation current is applied to the Hall plate through the use of contacts positioned on opposite ends of the Hall plate. When the Hall effect generator is placed in a magnetic field and supplied with excitation current, the Hall effect output voltage is produced in the Hall plate which is orthogonal to the magnetic field and the excitation current. In order to measure this Hall effect output voltage, output leads are attached to the Hall plate in a position opposite to each other and on the axis of the Hall effect output voltage. Thus, the output leads are also exposed to the magnetic field which is impinging upon the Hall effect generator.
As a result of the output leads being exposed to the magnetic field, unwanted voltages will be induced into the leads due to electromagnetic coupling occurring when the current being sensed is a time varying current. These induced voltages will add to the actual Hall effect output voltage formed in the Hall plate and cause errors in the measurement of the sensed current. As the magnitude and frequency of the time varying magnetic field resulting from the time varying sensed current increases, the induced voltages in the output leads will become larger and larger with respect to the actual Hall effect output voltage produced in the Hall plate.
Various types of sensing devices utilizing the Hall effect phenomena have been used in the past with an attempt to eliminate the error causing induced voltages in the output leads of the Hall generator. One example of a method for compensating for the induced voltages is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,706 (commonly assigned with this application), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. In this patent, a pickup loop is mounted on the dielectric substrate of the Hall effect generator in an area aligned with the normal sensitivity area of the Hall plate also constructed on the substrate. The pickup loop is positioned in close proximity to the Hall plate to sense the same flux as that which impinges upon the Hall plate. The pickup loop is connected to the Hall effect output leads and is made much larger than any other loops formed by the output leads. The output leads including the pickup loop are then connected to a circuit which has a frequency response that complements the response produced by the interaction of the responses of the Hall plate, the pickup loop and the output leads to the impinging flux, thereby providing a resultant output response from the circuit that is flat within wide frequency ranges up to 4 MHz.
The Hall effect sensor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,551,706 achieved substantial commercial success. However, the difficulty in both manufacture and tuning the circuit during test compromised the economics of the sensor.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a current sensor having an improved transient response, thereby resulting in more accurate measurements of sensed time varying currents.
A further object of the invention is to reduce the cost and complexity of manufacturing the current sensors having improved transient responses.
These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the summary of the invention, and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.